


Curiosity Killed the Cat

by CaesiumDressing



Series: Huxloween stuffs [6]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Cats, Huxloween, M/M, Transformation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-06
Updated: 2016-10-06
Packaged: 2018-08-19 19:40:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8222564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaesiumDressing/pseuds/CaesiumDressing
Summary: Late one night, a meteor falls out of the sky on Arkanis.Written for Huxloween prompt: transformation





	

The night was cloudy. But then, when was it not cloudy on Arkanis? The rain never seemed to stop these days. Beneath the canopy all manner of animals stirred about, paying no mind to the dampness that permeated the forest nor the thunder rumbling in the distance. The amphibians by the stream made their deep brassy noises, the insects chirped and flitted about in the low light, small rodents skittered about in the low brush, and a large orange feline was teaching her cubs to hunt.

Suddenly there was a flash in the sky, but not like lightning. Something came hurtling flaming through the atmosphere. The orange tail lit up the night around it and cut a path through the clouds. If you had been watching you would have been able to catch a glimpse of the galaxy’s vast expanse of stars where the clouds had been parted by the meteor. The large hunk of space debris crashed into the forest right in the middle of a clearing.

The forest was suddenly silent. The animals had all quieted themselves as if there were a predator nearby, startled by the sudden unfamiliar sound. But slowly, the sound returned to the forest, the animals going about their regular business. The amphibians croaked and hopped from rock to rock, catching the insects flitting and chirping in the night and somewhere in the forest a small orange feline licked the blood of its first kill from its paws.

 

* * *

 

In the light of early dawn one of the orange cubs wandered through the forest. His mother had warned him to not go off alone, but his own curiosity about the thing that parted the clouds last night drew him. He snuffled through the undergrowth, seeking out the smell of fire and something unfamiliar. It wasn’t hard for the cub to find, he was quite the tracker. He’d been the first to catch his meal last evening, and his mother had even been surprised how he lured the poor animal into a trap. She had purred at his cleverness and his brothers congratulated him.

He stalked into the clearing sniffing towards the thing. It was similar to the rocks in the forest but something about it was different. It seemed to purr and radiate warmth. He felt the vibrations through the ground as he neared. The thing smelled like blood and soot, and something sweet like flowers. He couldn’t help himself as he got close enough he lifted a paw and placed it on the fallen object.

A vicious pain ripped through him and he cried out, growling and screaming. He felt his bones cracking and twisting, parts of him were shifting around and shrinking, his fur and tail falling away and turning to ash. It was agony. His whole body felt as if it was on fire and he rolled himself over onto his back. He was rapidly losing consciousness, the pain was blinding. The last thing he thought was his beautiful mother, he tried to hold her green eyes and brilliant orange fur in his mind as everything went black.

 

* * *

 

The kitchen staff at the academy were all curious about the object that fell from the sky the last evening but none but Arla was willing to search for the thing. She’d told the kitchen mistress that she was simply looking for berries as was her tradition during this time of year. Lovely purple gullberries grew plentiful in a specific clearing just in the forest and very near where Arla suspected that the thing had hit the planet.

She walked slowly, listening for the tell tale cracking of stalking beasts and ready to run at any moment. These woods were filled with predators. Some of the kitchen workers even believed that there were real monsters out here. Arla didn’t believe that; she may not be the smartest woman in the galaxy but she knew better than to believe in stupid superstitions. She was startled out of her musing by a cry.

She froze solid, listening closely, using every bit of her willpower to keep from bolting. A noise in the woods was not enough to send her running back to the kitchens without having seen the thing that fell from the sky. The cry came again. It sounded human. Arla listened closer and the cry came again. It was the wailing of an infant.

Arla threw caution to the wind, running as fast as her feet would take her to the clearing. The wailing was clearly coming from the center of the clearing, just where the meteor hit. She approached the crater and looked down. She didn’t understand what she saw.

A baby . . . a small red-haired baby boy was lying on his back in the dirt and ash next to the meteor. Naked, not even wrapped in a swaddling cloth. What a cruel thing to do to a child, to leave them naked in the cold dampness of Arkanis’ forests to be eaten by the murk cats lurking in these woods. There were plenty of places that would take a child if you felt you could not care for it, even the academy took in orphans from time to time.

Arla slipped down into the crater and picked up the child. It wailed again and she shushed it, rocking it back and forth in her arms. As the child quieted Arla felt as if her chest would burst. It hadn’t even been a week since she lost her own. She had been six months along when she felt her water break. It had just been her and Rennie in her room in the dead of night, birthing this child that Brendol Hux had put in her. Brendol knew she was pregnant, but hadn’t given her a second though. He told her to bring the child to him when he was born and he’d decide how it would be dealt with. Arla had been happy until Rennie handed her the body of her boy. He was stillborn.

 As far as she knew, only Rennie knew about the stillbirth. They had buried the body that same night, Arla trying her best to suppress her grief. She didn’t know what she would tell Brendol when he realized she was no longer pregnant, but she figured she had some time to think up some story. More than anything, she’d wanted that child. She didn’t know if Brendol would bring her out of the kitchens, but she had planned to beg Brendol let the child into the academy. To have a son fighting for the glory of the Empire brought her more joy than anything. In her mind, a plan began to take shape.

She would bring this child back with her from the woods and swear Rennie to secrecy about the stillbirth. She’d tell the rest of the kitchen staff that she had given birth in the forest while she was picking berries. Then, she’d bring the child to Brendol. She was lucky that the baby had red hair, just like Brendol himself. She dug into the basket she had brought with her to pick berries and wrapped the babe in a clean cloth. As she swayed making cooing noises at the small child in her arms his eyes opened for the first time. Arla gasped. His eyes were the most brilliant green, almost like the eyes of a murk cat. She leaned in and kissed the baby’s head, she felt like the force had blessed her with this child.

She knew she’d need to spend some time in the forest, and make it look like she had given birth. She caught a rodent in a snare and slit its throat with a knife, letting its blood run down her skirt and on her legs. It smelled nauseating, but there was nothing to be done about that. She hid the rodent away from the clearing and wiped her hands on another clean cloth, making it look as if she had wiped the child with it. The lack of afterbirth could be explained away by animals having taken it. Having finished her ruse she sat herself against a tree to wait, rocking her baby gently in her arms and singing lullabies she remembered from childhood.

The sun began to set and she decided it had been long enough. She began trekking back to the academy, the babe in her arms and some gullberries in her basket. She began walking faster when she thought she heard a murk cat stalking her but didn’t glance back. If she had, she would have seen a brilliant orange female murk cat with the same eyes as the babe.

 

* * *

 

Brendol sat behind his desk in his office on the academy grounds looking at the babe Arla had presented him with. He sniffed, not sure how he should react. He didn’t know why, but he had expected a girl child. A girl child could be sent to the women’s academy on the other side of Arkanis, out of sight, his shame would be hidden. But no, the child was male and would need to be trained here. He mulled it over another moment.

“What is this child’s name girl?” Brendol said filling the uncomfortable silence they had surrounded themselves with.

“Well sir, I have been calling him Armitage.” Arla said, thinking the name clever. What better to name a child found in the woods?

Brendol sniffed again, reaching out and pushing the blanket out of the baby’s face with a thick index finger. He didn’t know what the name meant, but it seemed as good as any other. It was at that moment that the child opened its eyes for the first time. Brendol was struck by their brilliant color and how keen and clever they were, even for a child only a few days old.

“Yes, Armitage Brendol Hux. I will keep him here in the academy but you must never let him know that you are his mother. He must never know of his low birth. This child carries my name and my blood, he will be destined for greatness.” Brendol said, little Armitage had freed his hand from the blanket and was now clutching Brendol’s index finger. Brendol felt no warmth for this boy, but he could tell he would be a brilliant soldier yet. Even now, he seemed to be plotting.

Arla nodded. It was as much as she expected. She had no claim to the child she knew. “He will be well taken care of?”

Brendol huffed. “Of course, girl. He will have the best. Now, go back to the kitchens and never speak of this again.”

Arla turned and rushed out. Brendol looked at the babe again.

“You better not disappoint me child.” Brendol said, not an ounce of fondness in his voice.

Armitage cooed and let go of Brendol’s finger, falling back to sleep.

 

* * *

 

“Stars, Armitage!” Kylo’s voice came from the ’fresher. He stepped out into the dark room, the light casting across him from the open door. He turned showing his back to Hux. It was covered in deep gouges, some still oozing blood. “Look what you did to my back! If I didn’t know better I’d think you were part murk cat.”

Millicent stretched on the end of the bed and turned her face to look at Hux, brilliant orange fur and flashing green eyes; a warmth spread in his chest. Armitage looked at Kylo standing in the ’fresher doorway, smiling a predator’s smile, his brilliant green eyes flashing in the darkness.

“I don’t know what to say Kylo, you bring out the animal in me.”


End file.
